AVReading Newsletter March: Mindsent

A sense of agency, or the belief that a given circumstance is within one’s control, is an important condition of self-efficacy.  Students who lack a sense of agency often feel powerless in the face of their academic struggles, while those who have a strong sense of agency typically feel as though their choices can make a difference in their performances. 

            Carol Dweck’s work (2016) on mindsets has helped us to consider these different levels of agency and how they can be fostered by choices we make in the classroom.  She defines the two types of mindsets as fixed and growth. A fixed mindset is one where students believe that their abilities are innate and immutable.  Students who believe they have a fixed mindset feel as though they are either good at something or bad at something, that it is either a gift they have been given since birth or something they simply cannot do.  Typically, students with a fixed mindset give up more easily when they come to difficult tasks, believing that no matter how hard they work at it, they just will not be able to succeed.  These students will often say things like, “I’m just no good at reading,” or “I am not a good writer,” semantics that suggest that the situation is unchangeable.  Students who have a fixed mindset are less likely to take on challenging activities because they fear failure, and in the process, discovering that they are actually bad at something.  

In contrast, students who have developed a growth mindset face academic tasks  with a different perception.  They see their abilities as something that can be improved with time and practice.  They are less likely to believe that they are innately good or bad at tasks, but slowly “growing” in ability.  Students who adopt a growth mindset are likely to take on challenging tasks because they are not as afraid of failure and are less likely to see that failure as a statement about their innate abilities.  They use the lessons of these failures to make adjustments and continue on with their tasks.  

Dweck’s research shows that teachers can promote growth mindsets-- or even perpetuate fixed mindsets-- by the way they teach and interact with students.  Here are a few things to consider. 

Building Agency.  As we move to implement the READ Act, more and more students are placed in intervention classes without their consent, which does chip away at their sense of agency.  Considering this, it is good to find little ways within those classes to allow students some element of choice.  Towards that end, allowing classes to choose their inquiry topics has become a way for them to exert some level of control.  Typically, I create three week units around something they are interested in studying.  So far this year, we have done inquiry units on True Crime Shows, shoes, Animation, Paranormal Activity, Psychopathology, and AI.  It does make for extra work and prep, but the likelihood of engagement increases. 

Allowing for Mistakes.  Fostering a growth mindset means that teachers create spaces where making mistakes and learning from them is a valued part of class.  Allowing students to re-submit assignments with improvements is a good way to promote this type of thinking.  

Grid Activity. One team building activity that offers a lot of different opportunities for metaphors and lessons is the grid activity.  I create a grid on the floor with about 7 columns and 7 rows.  Each square big enough for someone’s foot to rest in.  I then tell students that the object is to get the entire class across the grid on the hidden path, which I have drawn out on a sheet of paper, and which will give to a team leader.  But, there are five simple rules.  No one can talk while someone is on the grid.  Only one person is allowed on the grid at a time.  Everyone must make it across on the hidden path.  If you make a mistake, you must turn around.  The leader can only give you “yes” or “no” clues as to whether you are on the path. (I also tell them that they cannot leave physical clues or “bread crumbs” on the grid to mark the path.)   Then I give the paper with the hidden path to a volunteer who serves as the leader.  One-by-one, students enter the grid and through trial and error, they discover the path.  Everyone has to pay attention, since everyone will be expected to make the journey.  I like the activity for a number of reasons, but the one I emphasize the most is the value of making mistakes and learning from them.  

 

Dweck, Carol S. Mindset the New Psychology of Success. Ballantine Books, 2016.

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